The Alcohol Strikes Back
by poke-a-spark
Summary: Tumblr prompt. Emma goes to the diner on New Years. Leroy rants, to her mortification. Ruby is not amused. Sort of sequel to Blame the Alcohol. Jealous!Ruby as requested.


Red Swan (Red/Emma) Jealous!Ruby. Fluff.

**PROMPT: **Ruby finds out Emma was with Regina, and she becomes jealous.

**SUMMARY:** Emma goes to the diner on New Years. Leroy rants, to her mortification. Ruby is not amused. Sort of sequel to _Blame the Alcohol_. Jealous!Ruby as requested.

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Once upon a Time or its characters. I am not making a profit from this story. In fact, if you recognize it… I probably don't own it. Actually, I'm kind of happy I don't own it; I had a hard enough time keeping my fish alive.

**The Alcohol Strikes Back**

**o0o0o0o**

The sky was just starting to darken, but Ruby wasn't at all surprised at the absolute lack of customers the diner had seen; it was New Year's Day, after all. Most Storybrooke residents were still licking their wounds after binge drinking the night before. In fact, the only people currently in the diner besides herself was Leroy, who was used to binging and was ready for another round, and Dr. Whale, whom was completely hung over and looking for sympathy every time she walked by his table.

She made it a point to stick behind the counter; Granny would be amazed to know that the yellow stain by the cash _was_ in fact removable. All it took was a few hours and half a dozen scrubby pads. In fact, Ruby couldn't remember the last time she had cleaned so… vigorously. Granny was right; it really was a good way to work out your frustrations.

The chiming of the bell above the diner door broke Ruby out of her musings, a surprise in and of itself, what with the meager turnout for the day. Not bothering to look up as the footsteps drew nearer, Ruby inhaled instead, only to stiffen. Muttering under her breath, she scrubbed harder at a persistent patch of fossilized gum. Her earlier cleaning was for naught; her frustrations were leaking back in. And they brought friends.

"Hey, uh, did you have an argument with the counter or something?" Emma sat gingerly at the counter in front of her, confirming what her nose had already told her about her customer's identity.

Ruby made a noncommittal response; she was already trying to fight the urge to just grab Emma, but then the damn woman had to go and speak with the adorable _awkwardness_ that seemed to nearly drown her words every time she was near the waitress. Finger's twitching, Ruby did what she had been doing all day; she attempted to channel it into her cleaning…

…though it was a _tad_ harder to let go of her frustrations when the subject of said frustrations herself was sitting right in front of her.

"Um, I think you won this round." Emma's voice was somewhat rough, prompting scenarios to run through Ruby's mind as to why exactly that is, before her actual words broke through the haze that had taken near permanent residence in her mind as of late. "Quite thoroughly, in fact."

Eyes snapping into focus, Ruby's hand froze; she had been scrubbing so hard that the paint had begun to chip. Unclenching her fist, she deposited the abused scrubby in the bucket of water at her elbow, before sliding it out of the way. Clearing her throat, she asked, "Was there anything you wanted?"

"Just the usual," Emma's low voice trailed off, her hands fidgeting with a stray thread on her sleeve.

Unable to stop herself from glancing up, Ruby was hit with a sudden twisting feeling in her gut. It was an odd feeling; potent and alien, yet familiar like a childhood friend. It had been building, like a slowly growing flame, in her stomach since Christmas; a flame that had burst into an inferno just that morning. She wanted to just lash out; to grab the other woman and shake her, to make her _see_. To make her see what, she wasn't sure; she just knew she had to do it.

Ruby sighed imperceptibly as she took in Emma's bedraggled appearance and pained expression, her hands groping under the counter for the bottle she knew was there. Still, no matter what she was feeling, Ruby couldn't help but ignore the small part of her that wanted to let the other woman suffer in retribution.

"Here." Ruby shook two painkillers onto the counter beside the drink.

Emma didn't hesitate; she picked both caplets up and swallowed them dry, not wanting to risk burning her mouth with the hot liquid. "Thanks," she replied, the relief in her voice palpable.

"Yeah; good luck with that," Leroy snorted from his position a few stools over. "You seemed to be feeling pretty good last night; I doubt those'll even make a dent in what you're feeling right now."

Emma's eyes widened slightly at the same time Ruby's narrowed, before darting quickly between the younger girl and Leroy as she spoke. "Oh?" Ruby's fingers twitched, her hand grabbed the cloth and began wiping the counter in forced nonchalance in response.

"Hell, either you're a serious lightweight, which just makes you pathetic," Leroy took another swig from his glass, not caring that he had just insulted the sheriff in front of her, "or you have a thing for the mayor, which would normally mean you have balls, but in this case would just make you crazy."

The awkward silence that followed caused Emma to pale slightly. Unable to look up to see Ruby's expression, and not wanting to egg Leroy on, she tried to distract herself by taking a drink of her hot chocolate. The drink was still hot, but it was smooth and full of flavor, just the way she liked it. Unfortunately, the mug wasn't nearly large enough for her to hide behind, a fact that Emma found herself silently cursing moments later.

"Oh?" Ruby inquired, her tone of voice indicating only mild interest while her hawk-like gaze on the woman in front of her indicated something very different.

"Shit; in my opinion, anyone itching for Mayor Mills has to be ten kinds of fucked up crazy." Leroy scoffed, before looking at the bottom of his empty cup strangely. Nodding at the distracted waitress as she refilled his glass and left the bottle in front of him, he continued his rant. "Then again, the losers in this town all seem to be lightweights; the punch at that party was weak as shit, yet they're all bitching and moaning today as if they got hit by a semi last night. Losers."

"I would have left sooner if it weren't for the flask I brought with me; damn thing was strong enough to down a fucking elephant, but then some idiot bumps into me and the next thing I know my flask is gone. Shit was expensive, too." Leroy grunted in annoyance as a few drops of rum fell onto the counter as he gestured along with his words. This was why he wasn't an excitable person; shit happened and he lost precious booze. "Fuck, last thing I saw before I left was the sheriff and the mayor hanging off of each other; wasn't a surprise when Whale mentioned she had been seen leaving the mayor's place early this morning."

Emma almost choked on her drink as Leroy's rant turned into mumbling. She could feel herself sweating nervously; not only had she forgotten how quickly gossip seemed to travel in Storybrooke, no matter that most of its citizens were down for the count, but she could practically _feel_ Ruby's gaze on her. She imagined she should count herself lucky Ruby didn't have laser vision, but all she could think about at the moment was how royally screwed she was.

"Hmm," Ruby hummed slightly, her cleaning having gotten more erratic and frantic as Leroy's monologue had gone on, ending in her discarding the cloth altogether and clutching her hands tightly together. "So I guess you had a good time last night, huh?"

"N-no, not really," Emma winced. Ruby's tone was light, as if fishing for the latest gossip, but Emma could barely detect a sharp undertone

"Oh really?" Ruby made a small noise of disbelief, eyes taking in every minute expression that crossed the other's face.

Wary of Ruby's tone, Emma frantically tried to think of a way to get out of the mess she had inadvertently stepped in last night. Fidgeting with the handle of her mug, she deliberated on what to say to fix this. Deciding the truth was the only thing that wouldn't make things worse in the long run, Emma for once in her life wished someone else could tell truth from lies as well as she.

"I only went because Regina told me I had to. I wasn't-" Emma started nervously, only to be cut off.

"So do you do everything _Regina_ tells you to do?" Ruby's narrowed eyes flashed, her ire growing.

"What? No! As the sheriff I had to at least make an appearance. I wasn't going to stay long. The last thing I remember is deciding to have one more glass of punch before leaving and then-" Emma explained frantically, only to be cut off once more.

"And then you screwed the mayor." Ruby supplied flatly.

"What? No! I-" A small part of Emma's brain pointed out that the two of them weren't even together yet and she was already in the dog house. A depressing thought countered that one, saying she might have already ruined her chances at them ever being together.

"So are you saying you didn't screw the mayor?" Ruby asked sharply through gritted teeth.

"I-well, I…" Emma stammered, her eyes snapping to meet Ruby's at her sharp tone. "The last thing I remember is pouring myself a second glass of some non-alcoholic punch and then I'm waking up in bed next to Regina, which doesn't make sense since I don't sleep with anyone before going on a date because the last time I did I had a kid. I didn't, I mean, I don't know how I, someone must have spiked it, I didn't mean to… fuck!" Emma rushed out, afraid of being cut off again as she ran her hand through her messy hair, distraught. "I-I don't even _like_ her," she trailed off, mumbling dejectedly, "you're the one I like."

Ruby inhaled sharply, focusing all of her attention on the dejected form in front of her, while at the same time trying to block out the unwelcome scent that blanketed the woman. Emma sat slumped in her stool, head bowed, as if waiting for Ruby to rip into her. Unclenching her fists, Ruby grabbed the cloth and wiped up the mess Leroy had made earlier. "Okay," she stated evenly. She wanted to be mad at Emma; however she couldn't ignore the fact that something was telling her she was being honest.

"Okay?" Emma's head snapped up, incredulous.

"I believe you." Ruby wasn't sure which thought was crazier; that she believed it because she wanted to or because her nose told her the other woman wasn't lying. Either way, she had already decided to trust Emma, and her view of the events.

Emma warily looked into Ruby's eyes, astonished at the fact that she could find no lie in the other's words. "Really?"

"Unless you're lying?" Ruby asked, eyebrow raised.

"No!" Emma rushed out.

"Then I believe you." As Ruby was about to go clean the table Dr. Whale had vacated during the spat, Emma stood up abruptly, blocking her way.

Placing her hand on Ruby's arm, Emma opened and closed her mouth a few times; unsure of what to say but needing to make sure the waitress wasn't mad at her. "Are you mad at me?" When she finally found her voice, Emma was embarrassed to find that it was so small.

Ruby froze; the sight, feeling, and smell of the older girl in front of her almost unravelling the tightly spun control she had managed to get on her feelings. Shifting from foot to foot, Ruby made the mistake of looking the older woman in the face. The sight of the obviously nervous Emma biting her lip in anticipation was almost too much for her to take.

She wasn't sure what did her in; perhaps she had reached the limit of her control, what with Emma's thumb unconsciously tracing little patterns on her bare arm, or maybe Emma was just too damn adorable for her own good. Or it might have been that she could still hear Leroy mumbling about just what Emma and Regina had done last night as if he were standing next to her. Whatever the reason, Ruby snapped, and as her eyes focused on the ones in front of her, she took a step forward. And then another.

Soon Emma was backing up wearily, wondering if this was her answer. Not watching where she was going, Emma managed to somehow get backed up into a corner. It was then that her nerves multiplied tenfold; Ruby wasn't just stalking forward. She was stalking her. The moment after she thought that, Emma found herself pinned to the wall, hands held immobile over her head in a surprisingly strong grip.

Even as Ruby slowly pressed her body into Emma's pinning the other girl completely, she tried to resist, and was able to grasp a single thread of control. She was in limbo; she had just enough control left to stop her from moving forward yet not enough to back away completely. It was here, as her control cracked slightly with every breath of air Emma sent her way that Ruby was able to identify what she was feeling. Jealousy.

Part of her balked slightly at the idea; Emma wasn't hers to lay claim to. In fact, despite the crush she's had on the sheriff since seemingly forever, they had only kissed once and even that was under mistletoe at Christmas. They hadn't done anything since, and no talk of a relationship between the two had come up.

Another part of her rebelled against this, however, claiming she had every right to be jealous. To be angry. Emma was _hers_ and this part of her wouldn't be satiated until everyone _including_ Emma was aware of this fact. Ruby had been struggling with this part of her since Christmas, since she had first tried on the lovely red cloak Emma had bought her. Unfortunately her control was precarious, and as her ears finally tuned back into what Emma was saying and she caught Regina's name on her Emma's lips, she finally snapped.

Giving in to that slightly feral side of her, the little voice in her head practically howled in satisfaction as she crushed her lips against the ones under her. Taking advantage of Emma's startled gasp, her tongue darted inside her mouth; tasting, touching, _feeling_. As Emma slowly got over her shock and began kissing back in earnest, her tongue started vying weakly against Ruby's for dominance as she tugged slightly at her hands. Ruby, however, was lost for the moment and was acting on instinct alone. She would have nothing of the sort and began nipping that action in the bud.

Ruby growled, pressing harder against Emma and fighting fiercely for dominance. Emma whimpered faintly, the sensation of the slight vibration of Ruby's growl enough cause her to falter in her attempts. In the small part of her brain not overloaded in sensation at the moment, Emma was aware that Ruby's had the upper hand since the beginning; resistance was therefore futile. Pressing her advantage, Ruby growled again as Emma finally yielded, the almost purr sending a shudder through the shorter girl.

"I'll just see myself out, then." Leroy's snarky comment went unheard as he downed the rest of his glass. Snatching the bottle from the counter, he made his way out the door, his steady gait in direct contrast with the amount of alcohol he had ingested.

Ruby pulled back for a quick breath, before diving back down for another kiss. After a few long moments, Ruby was satisfied that Emma had stopped trying to fight back, the only sound escaping the other woman being a slight moan as Ruby claimed the inside of her mouth. Breaking the kiss, Ruby shifted slightly and latched on to Emma's wildly fluttering pulse point. Emma gasped for breath, her head unconsciously tilting to the side as Ruby nipped and sucked at the sensitive skin, intent on leaving a mark.

Satisfied with her work, Ruby pressed one more forceful kiss on Emma's lips, this one shorter than the others, before drawing back slightly, a growled 'mine' escaping her lips.

Emma's breathing was unsteady as she finally opened her eyes, her pounding heart almost eclipsing the low words. As she fought to control her breathing, Emma stared into usually playful hazel eyes, yet she was not altogether surprised to see that the eyes staring back at her had flecks of yellow in them as they stared back at her with a feral intensity. Not even stopping to think about it, Emma found herself responding. "Yours," she whispered. "I'm yours."

Ruby's ears twitched as the words pierced the haze in her mind. Humming, she happily leaned down and kissed Emma once more, the kiss noticeably gentler and soft, yet still carrying an undertone of possessiveness. Finally releasing Emma's hands, Ruby hummed once more as they automatically buried themselves in her hair, lightly rubbing just behind her ears.

The feral part of her satisfied for the moment, it retreated once again within Ruby, allowing her to draw the shorter woman into a hug as the kiss ended. Attempting to calm herself, Ruby allowed Emma to rest her head in the crook of her neck as she nuzzled the golden locks. Closing her eyes and breathing in tune to Emma's heart, she slowly, finally, calmed down.

Blinking her eyes open, she looked around at the empty diner. "I think I'll close early."

Emma chuckled suddenly, unable to hold it in as she looked up into once more hazel eyes. "Oh? And why is that?" she teased lightly.

Unable to control herself at the genuine smile and happiness she could see in Emma's smile, Ruby ducked down again for a chaste kiss, her nose twitching once more as she pulled back. "You need a shower." She frowned as she wrinkled her nose.

"I showered at the gym earlier," Emma responded, brow raised at the seemingly random statement.

"Why did you shower at the gym?" Ruby asked with a confused frown.

"I-uh…" Emma trailed off, eyes nervously peeking up at Ruby's, wondering at her reaction. "I left in such a hurry that I forgot my keys at Regina's."

Ruby scowled, muttering a few choice curses under her breath, though they were so low Emma couldn't catch them, even from where she was in Ruby's arms. Suddenly the thought of Emma using her bath products and dressing in her clothes seemed a hundred times more agreeable than it had a moment before. This way, at least, Ruby's scent would rub off on her faster, a thought Ruby was too preoccupied to wonder about its importance.

"Sleep over tonight." Ruby stated abruptly, not wanting to entertain the thought of the older woman going back to Regina's for her keys.

"Ah," Emma blinked hesitantly. "What about Granny?"

"She'll be fine with it," Ruby waived away her concern. "We can have a sleepover. Watch movies. Eat the fattening but ridiculous concoctions Granny comes up with and I always end up eating myself. Cuddle." Ruby punctuated each statement with a quick peck. "You can use my shower."

"But what about Mary Margaret? She'll be worried if I don't come home," Emma trailed off.

"She was at the party, yes? And so was David?" Ruby snorted after getting a nod for both questions. "Yeah, they're probably busy." Emma wasn't sure why that thought made her blush so much; Henry must really be getting to her. "You can call them. Later. After your shower."

Emma gazed into the pleading hazel eyes. "Just cuddling?" She wavered.

"Just cuddling." Ruby responded quickly, though somewhat grudgingly.

"Okay." Emma stated finally.

"Okay?" Ruby blinked, excited.

"Okay." Emma smiled at the younger girl's anxious expression as her hand was grabbed.

"Great!" Ruby flashed her a bright smile as she grabbed her keys and dragged the sheriff outside, locking the door. As they began walking towards Granny's Inn, fingers intertwined, Ruby stopped suddenly. "And you'll take a shower?"

"But I already-" Emma started, confused.

"Please?" Ruby whimpered slightly, biting her lip and pulling off the most sinfully convincing puppy eyes Emma had ever seen. "For me?"

"I-" Emma sighed, smiling ruefully as she was defeated yet again. "I do enjoy showering, and I guess I might have missed a spot or two at the gym…"

As Ruby quickly kissed her once more, she didn't bother adding that the girl had missed quite a few spots in her rush; but that was okay. Ruby was confident that by the end of the night, Emma would smell just fine.

**o0o0o0o**

A/N: For Anonymous. This would have been done sooner if I wasn't forced into the most uncomfortable dress I have ever had the displeasure of wearing yesterday because I couldn't say no when my aunt asked me to be part of her wedding. Anyways, I deliberated, and deliberated some more, and abused the backspace button, and this is what I came up with in the end.


End file.
